The long flight to Wellington has been a factor in leaving the defenders out, with both likely to come into contention for next weekend's clash with leaders Sydney FC.

While the loss of the club's two most-important defenders cannot be overlooked, coach Michael Valkanis has many more players to choose from against the Phoenix than he did last week.

Six players -- Bruno Fornaroli, Tim Cahill, Osama Malik, Manny Muscat, Luke Brattan and Fernando Brandan -- are available once more after serving one-match suspensions that had left City dangerously short of senior options last week.